Hi, I’m Joella.

Welcome and thank you for being here.

Here I will share a little about me for those of you who are curious to know more. Let me begin by saying that beyond the perceptions and ideas that I hold about myself, quite simply: I am.

I am here to support healing in its many forms. This feels more true to me than any label that I identify with. I hold space as a somatic psychotherapist and holistic counsellor, integrating both eastern and western healing modalities into my private practice. I also have over 10 years of experience in guiding individuals and groups through the practice of yoga and meditation.

My approach as a therapist has been shaped by years of personal exploration within various healing modalities and practices, my formal education and research, as well as my experience in supporting people both one-to-one and in group settings. I’m a certified Compassionate Inquiry® practitioner. Compassionate Inquiry® is a somatic psychotherapeutic approach that reveals what lies beneath the appearance that we present to the world. My training in Compassionate Inquiry has emphasised the importance of creating safe, compassionate, person-centred and trauma-informed spaces for self-inquiry.

I currently have a private practice and support clients online worldwide. I offer an integrative approach to therapy, accounting for one’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. I teach yoga in my local community and co-facilitate healing retreats internationally. It’s truly an honour to hold space for people engaging in self-inquiry, awakening to their true potential and transforming their lives.

In addition to practices of individual self-healing, my understanding is that healing happens through music, dance, nature’s medicine, wholesome food, and creative expression in its many forms. My perspective embraces the connection between ourselves and all aspects of nature — this is what the Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh called the Insight of Interbeing. I believe that beneath the many layers of conditioning we can all remember the Insight of Interbeing: This is the essence of what we are. The seed of curiosity is enough to start receiving the many fruits of healing through which we are all capable of returning to wholeness.

To read more about my personal journey, click here to visit my Wellspring Journal


Professional Training/Experience

  • Therapeutic Background

    • Bachelor of Psychology with 1st class Honours at Curtin University: BSc (Hons 1). My research thesis focussed on the relationship between self-compassion, resilience and mental health outcomes among young people with chronic conditions.

    • Somatic and trauma-informed psychotherapy training: The Compassionate Inquiry graduate-level certification program, mentorship program and internship program as developed by Dr Gabor Maté. I am a certified Compassionate Inquiry® practitioner.

    • Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy workshop: Healing attachment traumas.

    • Non-Violent Communication [NVC] immersion: Cultivating Connection.

    • Various somatic psychotherapeutic workshops and immersions for professional development (e.g., Internal Family Systems [IFS], Inner Parts Work, Polyvagal Theory on the autonomic nervous system, Compassionate Inquiry Circles).

  • Yoga and Meditation

    • 200hr Yoga Teacher Training: Liberation Yoga, Los Angeles, California (2014).

    • 300hr Yoga Teacher Training modules: Hathavidya, Los Angeles, California (2015).

    • Iyengar yoga intensive courses with the Iyengar family in Pune, India. Workshops and immersions with senior Iyengar teachers in the USA, India and Australia (2014-2020).

    • Advanced trauma-sensitive yoga teacher training: Yoga for trauma, anxiety, depression and body image with Sarah Ball (2023).

    • Ten 10-day Vipassana courses: An insight meditation practice for self-transformation through self-observation (2016-present).

    • Various yoga and meditation workshops for professional development (2014-present).

    • 10 years of experience in guiding Hatha Yoga and Yin Yoga group classes (2014-present).

    • Ongoing facilitation of women’s retreats internationally: Including yoga, meditation, breath work, somatic group practices, nature-based immersions, etc.

My purpose is to empower people to reconnect with themselves, awaken to their true potential and return to a place of inner and outer balance.

  • Testimonials

    “Words cannot express how thankful I am for Joella's profoundly transformative work and guidance. As a psychological consultant myself, I have been devoted to understanding my inner world and healing past wounds through various modalities over the past decade. Having worked with Joella for quite some time, I dare say that her presence, compassion and everything that she so beautifully brings forth during our sessions, have led me to unknown levels of self-acceptance and self-love. The safe and nurturing space that she creates online is exceptional and I have rarely felt so seen, held and securely guided through whatever is ready to emerge during our sessions. Dear Joella, you are a gift to this and above all my little world and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your beautiful, healing presence during my journey of embodying and loving all that is truly me in this lifetime. I look so much forward to continuing our work.”

    — Carmen

  • Testimonials

    “Joella is truly gifted in what she does. The space she creates feels safe, compassionate and warm, and I always feel completely held in her presence. She has walked beside me through the most vulnerable time of my life, and working with her has been transformational. With Joella’s guidance and support I have been able to meet and tenderly hold deep parts of myself with love, and transmute pain and fear into compassion and acceptance. Some of the deepest and most fundamental healing of my life. I highly recommend working with her if you feel called.”

    — Sarah

  • Testimonials

    “Joella’s presence is so warm and gentle, that immediately I felt safe to share my deepest vulnerabilities with her. Through Compassionate Somatic inquiry Joella so gently explored these overwhelming parts with me and guided me to the root of them. It was such a powerful and eye opening experience. Seeing through unconscious patterns that run my life, and having a deeper understanding and compassion for them is a game changer. Not often before I have felt such a loving space where the emotions flowed easily and so much regulation and integration happened. Thank you Joella, for your love and gentleness and being there every step of the way. Highly recommend to anyone who is on the healing journey and ready to go to the root of suffering and get to know themselves more deeply in a very held and grounded space.”

    — Robine

  • Testimonials

    “I have been doing therapy for many years, trying different modalities and techniques hoping to find something that could alleviate my social anxiety and strengthen my mental health. I started working with Joella 8 months ago, and the difference that I feel is profound. Although our sessions are online I feel Joella’s kindness and embracing energy as she holds space for me and my vulnerability each time we sit together. She is always so present and ready to help navigate any situation I am in, teaching me tools which I then incorporate in my day to day. My tool-box is growing and I am so happy to share that I feel more grounded in myself. Joella has so much knowledge, perceptiveness and wisdom. She truly is gifted at seeing and at helping others on their healing journey. Finding Joella renewed my sense of hope that healing is possible. Joella, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything that you are and for everything that you do.”

    — Samy

  • Testimonials

    “I had a deep calling to work with a somatic therapist to work through some of my childhood trauma, and I by far had chosen the right therapist for exactly that. Joella not only holds such a beautiful and safe space to go deep and to be vulnerable, but she has helped me uncover and understand more about my trauma and patterns where I was able to work through these that has now given me the gift of self compassion, self love and a deeper knowing of self. I highly recommend Joella to anyone who is committed to changing their lives forever and are eager to become a lotus in bloom! Thank you Joella.”

    — Mandy

  • Testimonials

    “I’ve been working with Joella over the past 4 months and it’s been pretty clear to me during this time how much I have benefitted from our sessions together. There is a saying about “if you want to see how enlightened you are, go spend a week with your family”… and after going home to spend a week with my family over Christmas (while sharing a house sit with my ex-partner) - I’m so incredibly grateful for and in awe of the work Joella and I have done together. Through our work I have expanded my capacity to navigate uncomfortable feelings and situations, to be present with moments of joy in my life (without anxiety or sabotage), and to express myself in a more authentic way more often. All of which is allowing me to deepen my love for myself and my relationships with others.

    Joella has guided me through gentle enquiry and allowed me to feel seen, heard, and held through the healing of past hurts and complex traumas. Joella is compassionate and warm in her approach. I am beyond grateful for her presence, and for the work she has done in order to hold others in their own process. At the end of each session I am often left in awe, at peace, and filled with appreciation for her and the space she holds for me to heal. Thank you Joella.”

    — Chelsea

  • Testimonial

    “My journey with Joella in the Compassionate Somatics Program has been most helpful. There have been multiple times in my life where therapy played an important role in my healing process but none were as rewarding as the sessions with Joella. She taught me how to look within, how to move into the depth of my questions and she supported me throughout. I was inspired and in awe of her dedication and willingness to hold space for me. It allowed me to feel safe and go back to painful memories and stories that held power over me from childhood. What I learned with her has permanently changed how I view myself and my healing journey!”

    — Corina

  • Testimonials

    “Sessions with Joella have been so potent and profound to say the least. Joella isn’t just any ordinary psychotherapist. The space she holds is full of unconditional love and deep compassion that is extremely rare. I feel beyond grateful & humbled. While I had many healings occurring throughout our sessions I now also have a much more deepened understanding on my coping mechanisms. Why and how they came about and what to do to dissolve them, practising using these tools in sessions. In many years of therapy and changes of healers and psychotherapists I feel so relieved to have found someone with such wisdom, tools and most importantly the biggest heart.”

    — Shae

  • Testimonials

    “Joella’s energy is so soft and gentle it allowed me to fully drop into the space of openness and deep surrender. She created a beautifully nourishing space to hold me in my vulnerability allowing me to fully be with my emotions and thoughts. I highly recommend Joella as a practitioner for people at all levels of their healing journey, she is so skilled at providing what is necessary for where you are within your journey!”

    — Elska

  • Testimonials

    “I loved working with Joella. I felt trust because of the way she was present, perceptive, and nonjudgmental; and I am truly impressed how fast we went so deep, while it was also gentle and supportive at the same time. I have gained new, clear and very useful insights about a topic that I have been struggling with for years and discovered practical steps on how to implement them in my life.”

    — Jelena

  • Testimonials

    “I have been working with Joella now for three months and the work she is doing is incredible. I feel very safe and held. It is hard to put in words as it just feels like magic. Her inquiries are so gentle and still so deep. With Joella I feel like I am able to let go as I always feel safe and therefore I can go very deep by becoming more aware of my patterns and beliefs. Since the beginning of these three months, I feel like I have more capacity and spaciousness in my physical and emotional body to integrate and being able to give myself more space to process. I feel that a few tensions/blockages/walls in my body as well as in my mind have shifted and integrated. Thank you. Joella and her work are really just wonderful.”

    — Jessica

  • Testimonials

    “Joella, I want to deeply thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the session you so gently and compassionately held for me. I was able to completely surrender and arrive to the most hidden places within myself and turn stuckness into softness. I’m always surprised by the many layers these energies hold; thank you for reminding me it is okay to revisit them. There can always be more to discover, more to unlock. Only with your level of compassion and non-judgement, can we arrive at those places. Thank you for guiding me there.”

    — Andrea

  • Testimonials

    “I wanted to thank for holding space for me, your session had a profound impact on me in the most beautiful and deep way, I felt feelings I had never allowed space to feel before and witnessed my younger self and held her with so much love. The flood gates opened for me after our session and my memories that have been blacked out from my memory have come back. I have had the space to sit with them and feel where they land in my body. This was a very powerful and healing experience. After our session I felt so calm, present and peaceful in my mind, like I was floating but grounded, like I was balanced it was incredible to experience. Joella I am so grateful beyond words for your work, for your soul, for your space, your energy.”

    — Zoe

  • Testimonials

    "Working with Joella has been transformational; since working together on my therapeutic goals I have made many positive changes in my life and it all comes back to the somatic practice of listening to my body. I have been able to focus inward and focus on my growth and expansion with the guidance of Joella who creates a very safe and supportive container for the client to go inward and return to self. I benefit from the knowledge and psychoeducation that Joella shares which provides a very helpful context for me to explore and better understand my behaviors and responses. This is my first time working with a somatic therapist and I feel that it is significantly improving my mental, emotional, and physical health. I appreciate having the opportunity to learn and grow within this framework with the support of a very skilled and supportive therapist."

    — Krista

The wellspring for holistic self-healing that I share here is sourced from my personal and professional experience, my formal training and research, as well as my ongoing curiosity to learn, to remember the essence of who we really are and to support authentic transformation.